


Nobody Listens to the Radios These Days

by Eramia



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Companionable Snark, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Radio, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eramia/pseuds/Eramia
Summary: After everybody at the station goes home, the radio talks back. Will you listen?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Nobody Listens to the Radios These Days

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this monologue about a tween girl trapped in the radio station to celebrate the release of the 100th episode! Here is the link to the live recording. Below you can find the transcript to follow along.
> 
> https://drive.google.com/open?id=17nygKURVXtN31E5QHJpHKKOMz52iCKWt

Transcript

[Pre-show Introduction] Hi, all! Before we begin, I just wanted to give a big thank you to the cast of King Falls AM. You inspired me to write this monologue and compose music at 2 in the morning. It’s my first time doing either of those and I hope you enjoy it!

There were so many emotional and vulnerable moments in the show that I can’t pick just one! However, the episode where the station was destroyed was so wild. This monologue is set in-universe after those events.

To me, radios are one’s last hope of getting through to somebody. They can be a little hard to use and it’s even more daunting when you’re trying to speak to somebody. You’re not even sure if anyone is listening to you on the other end. But you try anyway, yanno? You keep trying in the hopes that one day, someone will reach back to you and I think that’s a pretty apt way of explaining what it feels like to put your art into the world. And I think ultimately we all just want to connect with someone.

In this story, there is an apparition that lives inside the radio. If I had to summarize this monologue in one sentence, I’d say: After everyone at the station goes home, the radio talks back. If I had to summarize this monologue in two sentences I’d say the first sentence again and then add this question: “Will you listen?”

A quick heads up before we begin, there is a trigger warning for briefly mentioning suicide attempts. I do not go into detail in any way, but just to be safe, I wanted to bring that up.

Please take care of yourselves and enjoy this production of “Nobody Listens to the Radio These Days”.

Thanks again for inspiring me, King Falls.

I hope you know what sort of monster you’ve unleashed.

[“They’re Gone” introduction plays]

[static, radio tuning, air hissing]

[radio clicks]

...Are you guys done yet?

UGH. Jack-in-the-box  _ JESUS. _

Finally. What sort of deal with the devil do I gotta make for some peace and quiet around here? Thank goodness I’m alone now.

...Oh, no, actually. It seems we have a listener. Hmm...

Well, I dunno if “ _ listener” _ is a good way to put it. See, nobody listens to the radio these days. It’s funny because I do like to talk and I  _ especially _ love to talk about myself. But, yanno, nobody listens to what  _ I _ have to say.

At best, I’m a means to an end. [Static rising] It’s really kinda interesting actually: once radios came about, it’s like the whole world got connected, yanno? There’s a word for it, I learned about it in class. “Globalization”, I think? Something like that. [Static falling]

Anyways, yeah, radios are still around, sorta. [Static rising] Weirdly enough, people like to put on music and then  _ sing _ over said music. It’s like... _ why? _ And you know who has to listen to you sing?  _ Me! _

So, can I just say…[static falls] Ben Arnold, you are doing a  _ fantastic job _ . Your voice is so rich and clear; it rings like a church bell and  _ that _ is a church I could wake up on Sunday mornings for. You have  _ me _ swooning and I’m not even alive!

Ugh, wait, where was I again?

Oh, right! You go so long without talking it’s like everything you want to say just, yanno, [whoosh sound] boils over and spills out of you! I guess normal people like to have conversations...honestly, I haven’t had one of those in a while. I mean, I just said a bunch of words and yet ultimately, said nothing at all! Crazy, huh?

That aside, I’m glad you’re here, listener. Really, I am. The phones are down right now, I guess. I mean, with no one to pick them up, what’s it worth trying to call? I might as well be talking to a plane flying overhead pretending its a star.

...Listener, can I ask you something?

Why are you still here?

[static rises/falls]...Sorry, that was silly. You can’t answer! Pretty dumb of me, huh? I literally just said you can’t answer and it was like, in one ear and out the other!

Well, if you can’t talk tonight, listener, can you do me a favor?

Can you listen to what I have to say?

… [waiting]

Again, you can’t answer. But deep down, I know you’re still here. I mean, I don’t know for certain, but...it’s a feeling. A strong one.

Yanno, Sammy and Ben share their story all the time--and when I mean “share” I mean, _ jack-in-the-box Jesus _ it’s their fault my fanfiction is full of that sweet, sweet angst. Sometimes I almost wanna speak up and be like “wait, wait, wait, hold up!” and then grab my notebook and be like, “okay, continue!”

...Hey, don’t judge! Everyone’s got a hobby. Mine is making fictional characters suffer.

I almost don’t mind when they go through it live, cuz like, it’s like going on a field trip, but with emotions…[static rising] oh, I just thought of a  _ really _ good pun. You ready for this? You’re not. Okay.

Field trip? It’s more like...a feels trip. Ah? Get it? [static falls] You know, like, “buckle up, King Falls, we’re going to Feelidelphia! Population: you, but the tissue box just left town”! [laughing, mumbling] God, I love bad puns...

Aw, jeez, I did it again, didn’t I?

Sorry, back to the topic. Um, so Sammy and Ben share their story and then they say, “Now let’s hear yours!”. I mean, not  _ mine _ . Nobody thinks of what I would say.

...What  _ would _ I say?

Sorry, it’s just been so long! I hardly know where to begin! Sorry about the static. It’s like I have radio ADHD; I can’t stay tuned to the right station for very long. It kinda sucks sometimes.

Other than that, I think I’m pretty cool for a radio. I mean, I’m not very functional but I’m...neat-looking, I guess? I got an aesthetic going, let’s put it like that.

Seriously though, unless a billionaire decides he wants to, oh I dunno, listen to science and save our dying planet, radios are gonna be your best bet for communication in the future.

I mean, come on! You mean to tell me not a single billionaire has donated any substantial amount of their gross wealth to save the planet from global warming? Burger King of kings! They could give like 1% and still be rich  _ and _ alive, which I hear is pretty cool if we all live long enough to do that. Listen, when the end of the world comes and all you got is a lone radio in this desolate wasteland and you’re trying to get a signal through to someone,  _ anyone… _

Haha, wait, it’s just like in that song Ben Arnold sang during Christmas. “Can you hear me? Is my signal coming through?”

Ah, no! Focus, Mia!

...Oh, yeah. I guess I never introduced myself, huh.

Um, yeah, I...have a name.

...I didn’t plan on meeting you like this, listener. [static rises] Please don’t be mad. I wasn’t lying to you, I promise! I’m the radio--I mean, technically, I’m  _ in _ the radio, but I…I didn’t...[static falls]

...

Apparition, is it? Is that the word?

Yeah. I’m one of those.

And I’m just trying to reach somebody. Anybody.

This radio just happens to be my own means for an end

…

Isn’t that sad? Not even the radio listens to itself...

You know, when I was alive, I used to tell people I didn’t have much time left to live. They’d assume I had some life-threatening disease or something, not that I would fake one but...it got them to listen to me. Don’t worry, though, I never lied. If they asked, I’d be like, “Nah, you know, life’s just too short.” But honestly? Sometimes, life just felt too long. I used to tell myself: as soon as I was satisfied with my life, I was going to kill myself. Before it could get bad again.

...I didn’t do it. I mean, I never got to that point where I could say I was satisfied. [smile/laugh] 

On my good days, I used to make this really morbid joke. Yanno, “I’m such a badass, nothing can kill me, not even me! And I tried! Three times!”

...I can’t see your face, listener, but if it’s making the face that I think it’s making...I wouldn’t blame you. I got that look a lot too.

I guess it’s kind of suiting seeing where I ended up. Nobody listened to me then, nobody listens to me now.

Even with all this new technology though, I still think radios are pretty cool. When all else fails, radio is your last resort for getting through to someone.

...No, I won’t tell you how I died. Yet. That’s for another night, listener.

But if you’re wondering why I’m here...to be honest, I’m asking myself the same thing...

You know what they say about energy and matter? How it can’t be created nor destroyed? So even after you die your energy still lingers. And I guess, if your will is strong enough, you become an apparition, wreaking as much havoc as you did when you were alive.

Isn’t that poetic? I wouldn’t say I wreak  _ a ton _ of havoc. I mean, if anything, havoc has been wreaked on me! I almost died  _ again _ when the station got destroyed. It’s like, what the heck! Wasn’t one death good enough for you? You need two now?! [mumbling] Shaking my darn head.

Uh, how can an apparition die, you ask? I mean, this radio is my host. You destroy it, I’m basically back to just lingering energy. Formless. Shapeless. Gone. I just got lucky there was enough of the original station left in the wreckage that I could hang on to. Barely.

Remember when Sammy and Ben said they missed the old station? That felt nice. Almost like they were saying they missed  _ me _ . Not that they would know me. I’m from a different time.

[static rising] [gasp] Imagine being older than  _ Sammy. _ I’m basically his grandma! That’s  _ so _ wild! [static falling]

Oops, lost the topic! Get back there you! Uh, I guess now I can say I almost died four times, huh. Well almost died four times, actually died once. That’s...a cool ice breaker. Or should I say… a “killer” ice breaker? No? Yeah, okay.

[yawn] It is way past my bedtime, listener. I mean, not that I have one...I’m a high schooler. Or I was a high schooler. Was about to become one?

Before you ask, no, I don’t sleep. But manifesting in this way takes energy, yanno. Sometimes you just gotta chill. It’s like just leaning back and letting yourself float on this crystal clear lake. You start to feel numbness in your fingertips and before you know it, you’re floating away from yourself. You should try it sometime, listener. Hopefully, a real lake and not this weird metaphorical energy lake filled with the cosmic power of the Universe.

But, yeah, um…

Thank you. For listening to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to someone. Sammy and Ben are pretty good about keeping the radio running. There’s almost never any dead air, except for I’m on. An apparition on the radio sounds like  _ dead air _ to me.

Sorry, last pun for the night, I promise.

Hey. If one day there’s nothing playing, do you wanna do this again?

...Oh, right. No phone line.

I want to say [yawn] yes. Yes, you will.   
  
[static]

[End.]

[“They’re Gone - Lullaby version” outro]

[Credits] “Nobody Listens to the Radio These Days” was written, produced, and performed by Raquel-Sarah Kadin. The intro, “They’re Gone”, and outro, “They’re Gone - Lullaby version” was also composed by Raquel-Sarah Kadin. The flute part was performed live by, surprise, my good friend Jordan Augusto. “Orange” you glad I didn’t say “Raquel-Sarah Kadin” again? It’s not like I can do everything by myself! While the flute part was live, the rest was played by musescore. Gotta give credit where credit is due, even to computers.

Oh, just you so know, King Falls. Making me write my very first monologue and a piece of music on top of that? It’s your fault.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading/listening! <3
> 
> You can find me as @eramia on Tumblr and @miaeramia on Twitter!


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